ARTICLES ABOUT CHIANG KAI SHEK BY DATE - PAGE 3

Since the publication of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, the Galapagos Islands have been a symbol of the wondrous powers of nature. A natural laboratory protected from the world's usual hazards by its remoteness, the islands offer a unique experience of nature at its most perplexing and magical, a land of strange and unusual creatures found nowhere else in the world. This volcanic archipelago of 13 larger and many smaller islands and islets straddles the equator in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador.

By Reviewed by Harrison E. Salisbury, A specialist on Russia and China whose new volume of memoirs will be published in February | August 16, 1987

From a Far Land By Robert Elegant Random House, 737 pages, $19.95 China has turned into a treasure trove for Robert Elegant and his powerpack blockbusters--"Dynasty," "Manchu," "Mandarin" and now, "From a Far Land." Elegant possesses an asset that many of his rival blockbuster builders do not. He knows the territory--he knows China, has lived there, worked there as a correspondent and devoted time to its study. It shows in his work, and "From a Far Land" is no exception.

C.H. Huang, slim, 70 and silver-haired, burst into the office of the small trading company he operates in Taipei, looked out his third-floor window at the gridlocked traffic on tree-lined Chungshan North Road and scribbled several Chinese characters on a notepad he carried in the pocket of his gray pin-striped suit. "Before you vote, don`t forget to ask about the traffic," the Chinese characters said. Then, turning to a waiting visitor, Huang said: "I really don`t give a damn about politics--I just want somebody to do something about the traffic.

When Hwang Chao-hsi goes to the polls on Saturday to cast his vote in Taiwan's national parliamentary elections, it will be with the knowledge that, when all the ballots are tallied, nothing much will have changed. But Hwang and an estimated 60 percent of the voting public in this nation of 19 million will vote anyway. That is because, despite an electoral system that allows Taiwanese to elect only 8 percent of the National Assembly and legislative Yuan, these elections are different.

Hsieh Chang-ting, an opposition candidate for one of 73 seats in Taiwan's 329-seat national legislature, or Legislative Yuan, climbed atop a wooden platform, looked out at the crowd of 2,000 supporters and raised his arms above his head with index fingers extended skyward. The supporters, who had waited two hours to hear Hsieh, one of the most popular candidates from the newly formed opposition Democratic Progressive Party, erupted with cheers. "Self-determination," shouted Hsieh, 38, one of the DPP's founders.

It's not clear whether "Fanshen," in its Chicago premiere at Lifeline Productions, is meant to be a salute to or a send-up of land reform in China. David Hare's 1975 play, adapted from a book by William Hinton, spends most of its case history detailing the endless failures and incompetencies of the new communist government as it affected the lives of people in the village of Long Bow, 400 miles southwest of Beijing, in the years 1945-49. According to the play's time capsule, indoctrination, examination, cross- examination, recrimination, ostracism, self-criticism, witless gossip, bootless arguments and marathon meetings ("They talked for 16 hours . . ."

If the United States hadn`t poured money and technology into the Soviet Union, that aetheistic, communist country would have gone down the drain years ago. We betrayed Chiang Kai-Shek, Batista, King Leopold III and Somoza, causing China, Cuba, Belgium and Nicaragua to go communist. Continuing the list, the powers-that-be seem determined to undermine our friends in South Africa, Taiwan, the Philippines and Chile. The President should file David Rockefeller's toady, George Shultz, off to oblivion.